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    Upgrading Macbook Pro mid 2009

    Discussion in 'Apple and Mac OS X' started by airholland, Nov 15, 2010.

  1. airholland

    airholland Notebook Geek

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    Since a year I'm the proud owner of a Macbook Pro
    I've upgraded it once with a Seagate Momentus XT 500 GB, but now I do want more speed.

    So I've decided to go and upgrade the Macbook, but I do need some advice:

    1st: RAM memory:

    What would you guys go for:

    - Same amount of memory (4 GB) but at a higher speed (2333 Mhz instead of 1067 Mhz) such as the Kingston HyperX

    or

    - More memory (8 GB) at the same speed (1067 Mhz)

    2nd: Harddrive SSD

    Since I got the Momentus XT, I'm looking into things that let me use the DVD drive as a harddisk bay. Is there anything to say about which place the harddrives should be placed (F.E which harddrive should be put in the current HD-bay, the new SSD or the old Momentus XT which I'll use for data). Ofcourse I'm looking for the fastest option!

    3rd: The DVD-bay using as a hardrive

    Are there other options than this one? (preferably cheaper and available in Europe. But I do want the SATA-300 connection)
    MCE OptiBay Hard Drive and SSD Drive for MacBook Pro, MacBook, PowerBook G4, and Mac mini

    Thanks for the reply's :)
     
    airholland, Nov 15, 2010
    #1
  2. Nick

    Nick Professor Carnista

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    Nick, Nov 15, 2010
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  3. doh123

    doh123 Without ME its just AWESO

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    that wont work... get 8gb. The speed of the ram isn't set by the ram... if you stick 2333mhz capable memory in there, it'll still run at 1067 and you wont get any difference in speed. 8GB would help, if your doing things that can use it all... running virtual machines are a huge memory hog if you do that, and 8gb helps a lot.
     
    doh123, Nov 16, 2010
    #3
  4. GaresTaylan

    GaresTaylan Notebook Consultant

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    I agree with the post above. Unless you are running a VM or several Adobe suites, etc; I dont see the need to upgrade past 4GB. The SSD on the other hand is the best upgrade you can do IMO. I was ready to build a new PC at home (built in 2006) due to its age. Switching my 10k RPM raptor out for a SSD has kept me very content for the time being.
     
    GaresTaylan, Nov 17, 2010
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  5. scupking

    scupking Notebook Consultant

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    Don't do the ram but I would say if you can get a SSD
     
    scupking, Nov 18, 2010
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  6. ren3g7ade

    ren3g7ade Notebook Evangelist

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    I have the same MBP as you and have taken pretty much the same route. I maxed out the RAM at 8GB with GSkill Apple RAM and I bought a Momentus XT and replaced my stock hdd. The performance of the MBP is great and although I would love to have an SSD I think, speaking practically in terms of total cost and performance vs value, I am quite satisfied with my setup. If you have extra money to spend, you could go get an SSD but personally I would rather spend that extra cash on a tablet of some sort in the near future...

    My $0.02 ...HTH
     
    ren3g7ade, Nov 18, 2010
    #6